Organisation: IAM RoadSmart
Date uploaded: 23rd July 2010
Date published/launched: June 2009
In the seven years between 2000 and 2006, around 150,000 motorcyclists were killed or injured on Britain's roads.
Motorcycling can be the riskiest way to travel. For every kilometre travelled, a motorcyclist is 50 times more likely to become a casualty than a car driver.
This IAM study reviews and reappraises the risk. It analyses 150,000 motorcycle casualties over seven years, highlights where and when motorcyclists are most at risk and explains why they become casualties.
Bike size, road layout, junctions and bends, weather, time of day and seasons are some of the contributory factors. But most significant are the age of the rider and inexperience. Fewer than 20% of motorcyclists are under 30 but they represent half of all rider casualties. As many people take the motorcycle test after they are 30, the casualty figures include inexperienced riders in their 30s and 40s.
The motorcycle and driving tests examine basic competencies. Motorcyclists and drivers then tend to develop their skills the hard way – on their own – and all too often suffer a crash along the way. For a car driver, a minor collision may cause no injury but on a bike it can result in serious injury or death. This is why riders are so much more at risk, and why motorcycling can be the most dangerous way to travel.
Is this vastly greater risk reducible? Yes. A key solution lies in extra training and advanced riding qualifications. Learning from experienced motorcyclists how to ride with greater precision, awareness and anticipation is the best way to develop the extra skills and the right attitude to be a safer rider, and not a casualty statistic.
Safe riders are made, not born. Organisations like the IAM exist to turn inexperienced and vulnerable motorcyclists into skilled and thinking riders who can safely enjoy the freedom and sheer pleasure of life on two wheels.
For more information contact:
IAM Motoring Trust